Ellacombe Church of England Academy, a part of the Learning Academy Partnership, have received a very generous donation from a former pupil which has been used to help provide pupils with mindfulness and emotional wellbeing activity packs.
Using the donation and funding matched by the school, pupils have had an additional support mechanism to assist them with the long-awaited return to school.
The activity packs which were chosen to support pupils’ emotional wellbeing and help them develop mindfulness techniques include: mindfulness colouring books, doodle books, colouring pencils and a welcome back pencil case with handwritten personalised messages from their teachers. The generosity of the anonymous donor has helped make the pupils return to school an even more positive occasion and staff across the school are hugely grateful for the act of kindness.
The colouring books and pencils help pupils take time out for themselves and learn how to create space when they need to – which is vital, especially during this difficult and sometimes overwhelming transition from remote learning to being back in the classroom. The notes from teachers are an important part of the wellbeing aspect of the packs, to show pupils that they are valued and cared for within the school community.
This was not the only excitement for pupils this month, they also had a wonderful, fun-packed day of dressing up and creating their own potato-based book characters, for World Book Day 2021. Teachers also shared videos of themselves reading stories which have been shared across all classes and on the school’s remote learning platform, so everybody got the chance to enjoy the pleasure of story-time.
The teachers and staff at Ellacombe have worked closely with the families of pupils over the past year to ensure they remained connected to the school community. Even when school has been closed to most pupils, families have shared beautiful pictures of nature walks, numerous craft activities, baking and science experiments, which in turn have been shared with classmates to keep the connection with their peers.
The Learning Academy Partnership provides a first-class education to its pupils across the South West, and has done so since it was founded almost 10 years ago. The Trust is rated the best Multi Academy Trust in the country for the performance of disadvantaged children and in the Top 10 Trusts nationally for the progress that children make.
Mrs Semmens, Head of Ellacombe C of E Academy, said:
“I would like to thank the donor for the wonderful gift to the school, we were overwhelmed by the generosity and good will of it. The emotional strength that a child feels just knowing they have been thought of and missed is so beneficial to their wellbeing and that is why we have decided to use the kind donation to put towards the purchase of a welcome back gift for our children.
As a school we look upon and refer to our staff, pupils and families as our ‘school family’. And as with any family member, we miss them when we are not together. Connection and belonging are things we value deeply, and we wanted to really send a message to our children that we care about them and will do all in our power to help them flourish.”
